


The Fall of the House of Xandred

by Guardian_of_Hope



Series: The 'Not Canon' Samurai Stories [10]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, M/M, Minor Character Death, Romance, Team, frienship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-03 15:10:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 18,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1071922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back from Eltare, Antonio and Mikayla find their place in the Samurai Rangers, but a message from the past reveals the secret history of Shiba House, the Samurai Rangers, and Master Xandred. Ask yourself this, why was the Shiba Family chosen to fight Master Xandred.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> There is an unfinished story titled Jayden versus the Bully that provides background to some events in this chapter. It takes place following The Eltare Adventure.

Jayden paced through Shiba House, hands tucked behind his back.  He hadn’t actually said anything to anyone as he walked, but everyone could tell he was nervous about something.  Mia and Emily had already given up trying to get him to talk and headed back into the house to pursue their own activities, but Mike found watching Jayden far more interesting than another round of practice.  “What do you think is going on?”  Mike asked as Kevin joined him at the table.

“Whatever it is,” Kevin replied, “hopefully he’ll tell us soon.”  Kevin seemed to have far more interest in the book he was reading than the odd behavior of their fearless reader, but Mike could tell that he was also watching Jayden go by.

The buzzer for the gate went off and Jayden froze, his head coming up and a look of hope on his face.  Ji brushed past him to the intercom, “Hello?”  He asked.

“Grocery delivery,” a man said, barely understandable over the crackle of the speaker.

“All right,” Ji said, “Come around to the left side of the building.”  Jayden’s shoulders slumped and he bowed his head.

“Yes sir,” the man replied.

Ji pushed a button and turned to Jayden with a patient expression.  “We’ll know, Jayden.  You need to relax.”

Jayden smiled at his mentor tightly and nodded slightly.

“What is going on?”  Mike asked, getting to his feet and ducking Kevin’s attempt to grab him.

“We’re expecting someone to arrive today,” Ji said.

There was a knock on the back door and Ji hurried to open it, “Groceries,” someone said.

Jayden froze with an odd expression on his face.  Mike tilted his head, but Jayden shook his head, the expression vanished behind a bland mask, and he headed for the kitchen.  Mike looked at Kevin, who shook his head no frantically, then followed Jayden.

A tall blond haired man was standing in the kitchen with a wooden crate, “Where should I put this?”  He asked.

“On the counter is fine,” Jayden replied.  His voice was cool in a way that Mike had never heard before, not even when Jayden faced off with the Nighloks, and it made him hesitate outside the kitchen door to watch.

“There you go,” the man said, turning with a polite expression.  It faded as he saw Jayden to be replaced by an expression both nervous and embarrassed.  “There’s one more box, Mister Shiba, and then I’ll be out of your way.”

Jayden nodded once, “Far be it from me to interfere with your job, Mister Carter.”  He pivoted and stalked away.

As Mister Carter headed back outside, Ji sighed and left the kitchen.  When he saw Mike watching, he nodded, “That went better than it could have.”

“What’s going on?”  Mike asked, he felt like he did back when he had first come to Shiba House, lost and confused, surrounded by people who knew so much more than he did.  It was a feeling he had not enjoyed then, and he did not enjoy now.

“I will explain later,” Ji began.

The doorbell rang, and they could hear Jayden run down the hall to throw open the front door, “Antonio!”  He shouted.

Mike darted past Ji and into the hallway to find Jayden _kissing_ Antonio, who seemed stiff.  Behind the two, looking amused was Lady Mikayla.  “Did someone say Antonio?”  Emily asked as she and Mia came down the hall.  When she saw Mikayla, she stopped short.

Mikayla watched Emily carefully, and then looked back as Jayden and Antonio parted, “What’s wrong?”  Jayden asked quietly.

Antonio was staring at the floor, whatever he said, Mike couldn’t make it out, but Mikayla looked frustrated, and Jayden jerked back, as stunned and hurt as if Antonio had actually slapped him.

“Tony,” Jayden said, cupping his friend’s face and making him look up.  “No, Tony.  You _saved_ Mikayla.  You did nothing wrong.”

“She could have died,” Antonio protested.  “If I hadn’t been so angry.”

“No,” Jayden said, in that firm, leader voice that made something in Mike want obey instantly.  “No, Tony, you did nothing wrong.”  He stared into his friend’s face intently, “I don’t need someone who is perfect, I just need you.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, and Mike tried not to watch because it seemed too intimate a moment, whatever was going on between the pair, but his eyes kept sliding back, awed by their expressions, the intensity of what was between them.  It wasn’t until Antonio’s shoulders slumped and he allowed Jayden to pull him into a hug that Mike felt like he could actually breath again.

Then Mikayla moved, slipping around the two men to approach Emily.  She looked like she was bracing herself to do some difficult task, with her chin raised and her shoulders square.  Mike stiffened and stepped forward, but Kevin caught his arm.  “Wait,” he murmured, lips barely moving.

“Emily,” Mikayla said looking uncomfortable, her words falling out of her in a rush, as if she had to say them fast or she would never say them at all.  “I need to apologize.  I was thoughtless, I hurt you, and what I did was wrong.  I’m not asking for your forgiveness, I only want to tell you that I am sorry for what happened between us.”

Emily stared at Mikayla for a long moment, and then she smiled, “I forgive you,” she said quietly.  “I have a letter from Serena, it just arrived, and she’s asked me a lot of questions about you.  I didn’t realize that you were the same age.”

Mikayla nodded, “Thank you.”

Whatever else she might have said was cut off by a crash in the kitchen.  When Mike turned, he found the food deliveryman, ‘Mister Carter’, picking himself up off the floor, surrounded by the groceries that had been in the box he had landed on top of.“  Are you ok?”  Mike asked, stepping forward to collect an apple.

“I tripped on the door jam,” Carter said.  He started to move the box he had dropped when there was a loud ripping sound.  The sleeve of his button down work shirt flapped against his arm, ripped from shoulder almost to his wrist; Carter regarded his arm with a sort of weary resignation.

“Are you ok?”  Mike asked.

“It just caught my sleeve,” Carter replied, “not even a scratch, sir.”

“I’m just Mike,” Mike said, picking up another apple.

“You don’t have to do that,” Carter said as he began to collect groceries close to him.

Mike grinned at him, “And leave you to pick up all by yourself?  My mother taught me better manners than that.”

Carter winced as he straightened up.  “My name is Will,” he said finally, “and thank you.”

“Here,” Kevin said as he picked up the box, “I’m always tripping on that lintel too when my hands are full.”  He frowned as he looked down at Carter’s arm.

“It’s cursed,” Jayden said, startling them.  “Uncle Ben,” he hesitated as his eyes darted down at Emily for a moment, “They used to tease him about being clumsy, and one day Uncle Damien said the wrong thing or something, because after that he couldn’t walk over any of the slate floors with something in his hands without falling over.  Most of the slate is not spelled anymore, but there are a couple of pieces.  Some of it wore off, but a couple of years ago, we renovated and pulled most of the stone up.  I think that piece of slate in that hallway is one of the last still in the house.  It must detect your symbol power or something.”

Mike had known, objectively, that Jayden had known the last Ranger team, but this was definitely the first time Jayden had ever mentioned it.  From the smile that Emily gave Jayden, she was not upset to hear about the brother she had never known.  “Are you going to juggle those or something?”  Kevin asked.

Mike jumped and glanced down at the apples he was carrying, “Nah,” he said with a grin at Kevin, “I can’t juggle.”  He bent over to pick up a box of cereal when Carter’s arm with the ripped sleeve came into view.  Mike could instantly see why Kevin had hesitated when he had seen it; Carter’s arm was covered in burn scars.

Mike swallowed and straightened up, and for a brief moment, his eyes met Carter’s own.  Carter turned away, “If there’s nothing else, Mister Shiba,” he said, “I need to get going.”

“Just one question,” Jayden said, his voice slightly warmer than it had been before, “I thought you joined the Army.”

“Marines actually,” Carter replied, “I’m home on leave and my aunt’s usual delivery man called in sick.”

Jayden nodded, “I see.  Thank you for the delivery.”  He stepped past Mike and offered his hand, which Carter hesitantly shook.

“You’re welcome, Mister Shiba.”  Carter said and started down the hall, one hand digging the keys out of his pocket.

Once the door shut, Antonio whistled, “Who was that?”

Jayden turned so that he could see Antonio, “You don’t remember him?”

“No, should I?”  Antonio asked.

Mike put his armload on the counter and began to unload the grocery boxes.

“That was Will Carter,” Jayden said, “does that ring any bells.”

Mike could hear Antonio muttering for a moment, “Oh,” he exclaimed, “ _babies.”_

“Exactly,” Jayden said, sounding a little amused.

“Did he ever stop bothering you?”  Antonio asked.

“Call it what it was,” Jayden said, “Will Carter was a bully, and a bad one.”

 _“You_ were bullied?”  Emily blurted out suddenly.

Mike flipped open one of the cabinets to put things away and jumped with Kevin stepped up beside him.  He smirked at his friend but continued to slide the various boxes into the cabinet.

“Carter’s dad worked at FTP,” Jayden said, “for all that I was homeschooled, we ran into each other on occasion.  He was taller, and heavier than I was for the most part, and older too, I think.”

“He also had a troubled home life,” Ji said, “Thank you Kevin and Mike.”

“Not a problem, Mentor,” Mike said.

“It doesn’t excuse Will from being a bully,” Jayden said, his tone harsh.  “And I still came out the worse for our encounters.”

“Jayden,” Ji began.

“He’s got some burn scars, because he pushed me too hard just when my powers were coming online, he experienced a one percent reduction in flexibility of his arm and shoulder.”  Jayden said with quiet intensity, “but compared to my encounters with him.  Do you need the list again, Ji?”

“Jayden,” Ji said.

“Bruises,” Jayden began, his voice deadly calm, “a black eye, broken nose, a broken arm, a sprained ankle, and how could I ever forget the words _ocular penetration._   For all that how I did it was wrong, that he walked away with a one percent reduction in flexibility is a minor price to pay.”

Mike wanted to turn around, to watch this odd showdown between Jayden and Ji, but he could not do it.  He kept sorting out the groceries instead, trying to pretend that he was not within five feet of such an impressive show down.

“Jayden,” Mikayla said, an odd tone in her voice, “ _what did you do?”_

“You know how you can’t really control your power when it first wakes up?  My first manifestation of fire symbol power came about when I was fifteen.  Carter decided he wanted to torment me for wearing glasses and being shuffled off to FTP’s empty boardroom again.  I object, he punched me in the head, I threw my hands up to keep him from hitting me again and his shirt caught on fire.”

Something clicked in Mike’s brain and he spun, “Wait a minute,” he said, _“You’re_ the mystery kid who tried to torch one of the high school kids?”

Everyone in the room stared at him, “What?”  Jayden asked.

“I was about ten,” Mike said, “It was this big rumor going around that some crazy, mystery kid tried to torch one of the high school football players.  A lot of the older kids were pretty freaked out by it, they thought they’d be next, and Mom almost transferred me to a school on the mainland.”

“I remember that,” Ji said, “I spoke with her and she understood what happened.”

“Did you hear about it, Kevin?”  Jayden asked.

“Me?”  Kevin said, “No, I don’t remember hearing anything like that.  I was homeschooled, and the guys on the club team weren’t encouraged to gossip, we were there to swim.”

“He was ok though,” Jayden said, “almost no loss of function, and people finally figured out just how far he’d gone as a bully.  They shipped him off to military school, and apparently it turned him around completely.”  He tilted his head a little and leaned over as Antonio put his arm around Jayden’s shoulders, “It doesn’t mean that I’ve forgiven him or anything.”

“Jayden,” Mikayla said.

Jayden pivoted to face his sister, his tone was cold and flat, “Mikayla, _with contacts_ right now, my vision is 20/90.  That is after having vision correction surgery.  My doctor says I cannot try again, my eyes would not take it.  The reason for that is because he pushed me face first through several bushes and into a tree when I was a child.  Excuse me for finding forgiveness a little hard to offer over that.”

Mikayla held up her hands, “Easy, Jay, I get it.”  She glanced at Antonio, “Tony’s told me some stories about how you became friends.”

Jayden glanced at Antonio, who shrugged and smiled, “It was only fair, and it wasn’t anything too embarrassing.”  He paused, “Not for you, anyways.”


	2. Catching Up

Things were different from before, Antonio noticed.  Jayden’s attitude was like a punch in the gut, even with his shields as strong as he could make them.  As he watched, Jayden and Mikayla face off both looking scared and determined.  Antonio wondered what had happened to his friend to cause those dark circles under his eyes.  Quiet voices and soft thumps from the kitchen drew his attention, however, and Antonio eased away to see what was going on.

Mike and Kevin were putting away the groceries that Carter had delivered.  “Hey,” Antonio offered.

“Hey man,” Mike said, “glad you’re back.”

“Glad to be back,” Antonio said as he boosted himself onto the kitchen’s breakfast bar.  “What happened while I was away?”

Mike shrugged, “We fought Nighloks, kept the city safe; nothing special.”

Antonio narrowed his eyes, “Mike, I am an Empath; I know you’re lying to me.”

“Maybe I am,” Mike said, meeting Antonio’s eyes firmly, “but you need to talk to Jayden about what happened while you were gone.”

“He’s right,” Kevin said, not looking at Antonio.

Antonio crossed his arms, “Is there anything you can tell me?”

Mike looked at Kevin for a moment, and then smiled shyly, “Emily and I went on a date.”

“Congratulations,” Antonio said with a grin, “Now the question is, did you ask her or did she ask you?”

Kevin coughed, and Antonio saw him cover his smile with his hand as he did so.  “I asked him,” Emily said as she bounced into the kitchen, “Are there any bananas?  I have been craving bananas lately.”

“We have a whole bunch of them,” Mike said, offering her the fruit.

“Thanks,” Emily said, taking one.

“Hey Emily,” Antonio said, and held out his fist, “good for you.”

“I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for you,” Emily replied as she tapped his fist with her own.  She glanced at Mike out of the corner of her eye, and then focused on her banana.

“What did you do?”  Mike asked.

“I told Emily that if nothing else helped, she should try to picture it as if she had to talk to you to stop a Nighlok.”  Antonio replied.  “Emily’s very brave when it comes to the Nighloks.”

Emily blushed and took a step back, “I should,” she said, “I told Mia,” she took another step back and bolted.

Antonio watched her go, and started pulling his shields down to see what Emily’s emotional state could tell him.  “So what happened on Eltare?”  Kevin asked, “Tyzonne, the Overdrive Silver, tried to explain it, but I was lost.”

Antonio sighed, “I think that’s a story best told to the group as a whole.  It’s very complicated.”

“On that note,” Mikayla said, “Kevin, Mike, do you know where Mia and Emily are?  We need to hold a team meeting.  Clear the air, as it were.”  Antonio cleared his throat and Mikayla stared at him for a moment, “I mean, will you please find Mia and Emily, or tell me where I can find them so that we can have a team meeting?”

Kevin nodded, “I think I can find them,” he said.  “We’ll meet you in the dining room.”  He put a can of soup into the cabinet before leaving.

“Thank you, Mikayla,” Antonio said as he slid off the counter.

“Thank you,” Mikayla said.

Antonio walked down the hall to where Ji and Jayden were waiting at the door to the dining room.  “Hi Mentor,” Antonio said with a bright smile, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Ji replied, “happy that you are back.  I trust everything is okay?”

Antonio shrugged, “Well, honestly, the intergalactic incident wasn’t my fault.  Besides, Berna swore that his hair would turn back to normal soon enough.”

“Which is a complete and utter shame,” Mikayla announced, “he looks good with lime green and purple hair.”

“You’re just mad that we couldn’t do anything more permanent,” Antonio said lightly.

“Of course I am,” Mikayla replied as she settled on one of the stools.  “After what he said to you, he got off lightly.”

Antonio shook his head and gave Jayden a little smile, “She’s exaggerating, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You’re lying,” Mikayla said flatly, “I saw you afterwards.”

Jayden caught Antonio’s arm, “ _Are_ you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Antonio replied, “Dad’s best friend Rocky took care of things, ok?  I just enjoyed the aftermath.”

“What happened?”  Emily asked as she followed Kevin and Mia into the dining room.  Mike was settling onto one of the stools as well.

“We should start at the beginning,” Mikayla said.  “And that is an apology to all of you.  I am not good at dealing with people.  My uncle, the person who raised me, was always aware of the fact that I was destined to become the Lady Shiba, and he acted accordingly by keeping a distance between us.  His wife, our aunt,” she glanced at Jayden, “she did not like me.  She wanted children, and Uncle Brian would not let anything come between him and his duty to train me.  After Uncle Brian died, she sent me to a private school to finish my education and then let me find my own way in the world.”

“By making her own way in the world,” Antonio jumped in, “Kayla means that she took on a fake name and became a champion race car driver over in Europe.”

“I wasn’t a champion,” Mikayla said.  “I was just a good driver on a champion team.  My boss was the champion.”

“What she’s still not saying,” Antonio said, “is that her boss was Ronnie Robinson.”

“Wait, Ronnie from Overdrive?”  Emily said, “I like her.”

Mikayla nodded, “Yes she was my boss.  After she retired, I shared ownership of VR, the team, with another driver, but she was crippled in a crash about a year after that and we agreed to disband the team.”

“But why did you do it?”  Kevin asked.

“I got into racing as a mechanic, to learn how to work on engines because I liked it.  Then I became a test driver, and finally a driver with VR Racing.  During my time piloting the Lion Folding Zord, some of the skills I picked up as a driver have proven handy.”  Mikayla said, “I’m sorry, Kevin, for what I said.”

Antonio cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows, because Mikayla needed to explain herself a bit better.

“I may be able to perform the sealing symbol,” Mikayla said, “and the fire symbol, but as Lady Shiba, I am required to be able to handle _all_ aspects of symbol power.  The symbols that you use are difficult, especially for someone for whom using symbols such as water are in direct opposition to their nature.”

“What she means, Kevin, is that Mikayla was afraid that you might not be able to handle some of the more difficult water symbols we might need, and lashed out based on that fear because she has trouble with them.”  Antonio said.

Kevin nodded, “I understand, Mikayla, and I forgive you.”

“I also apologize for my actions on the whole,” Mikayla said, “I was raised to expect certain behavior in myself when I came to team, especially if Jayden had to summon the team before I was ready.  In speaking with other Rangers on Eltare, and thinking back on my own actions, I behaved badly.  I can say things, make excuses for what happened, but the end result is that I hurt all of you in different ways.”

Antonio snorted, “What she means is that she doesn’t want Mike to be inspired by what happened on Eltare.”

“What did happen on Eltare?”  Jayden asked.

“Why did you have to stay on Eltare?”  Ji asked.

Antonio took a deep breath, “Because Zhane of KO-35, the Silver Astro Ranger, thought that my failure to identify Mikayla as a Silver Ranger was done with malicious intent as opposed to a lack of experience, I was required to go to Eltare to be judged.  Since I am technically the only Gold Ranger on Earth, and we look to Eltare for guidance, the Eltarean Gold Ranger is my… not my boss, exactly, but, he has some limited authority over me.”

“You knew as soon as you saw Mikayla’s aura,” Jayden said, “how?”

Antonio closed his eyes, “Because Zhane has little tolerance for my dad and his team, and while he’s been friendly to me in the past, this is the sort of mistake that could cost Mikayla her life.  I should have been better able to see Mikayla’s color when I saw it.”

“Tony,” Mikayla said, “this isn’t your fault.  You said it yourself, you do not have experience.  Dawion and Halon both said that what happened was not your fault.  I was such a bitch at that time, so focused on what I thought had to be and what must be, that your plan was probably the only way to get through to me.”

“Another question,” Mike said, “how could you know that Mikayla was a Silver Ranger?”

Antonio took a deep breath, “I have Empathy, the ability to psychically sense and project emotions.  I was a latent Empath until I had a very interesting run in with Dustin a few years ago.  I thought my ability woke up at full power, and they trained me enough that I could wait to finish my training on Eltare, or so we thought.  While my abilities did jolt awake, it was not at their full strength.  I have been getting stronger as an Empath at a very slow rate.  I just thought that I was doing something wrong.  When we got to Eltare, Dawion realized what was happening and he got me under special shielding that kept me from picking up everything from everyone like I had been.  He is Eltare’s current purple ranger, and a very strong Empath.  Halon is the Eltarean Gold Ranger.  When Dawion told Halon what was going on, Halon ordered me to stay on Eltare until I finished training.  Since Mikayla was going to be a while, healing from what the Red Power did and learning some about her own powers, it worked out.”

“What intergalactic incident were you involved in?”  Ji asked.

Antonio bit his lip for a moment, and Mikayla cleared her throat.  “Cassie Chan, the Pink Astro Ranger, died in a planetary attack while we were on Eltare along with her husband, the Phantom Ranger, and two other Earth Rangers, Max Cooper and Daniel Delgado.  They were ambushed in friendly territory.  Zhane, for reasons best left unsaid, believe that Antonio deserved part of the blame because if Antonio had not of asked for help to deal with me, then Zhane would have been there to help Cassie and the others.  Tony’s dad has a teammate who lives on the planet Javor.  You have been there, Jayden, he owns the Haven.  When Rocky, that is his name, heard about what happened with Zhane, he spoke to his wife Alia, who was one of Javor’s Rangers.  Alia spoke to her teammates and the current Aura Rangers, and then they talked to the Rangers at the Haven.  They all know and like Rocky, and some of them have met Tony at some point or other.  When they heard about Zhane screaming at Tony as he did, they reacted.  With the help of Zhane’s wife, Karone, they pretty much too that Intergalactic Prank Week thing and crammed it into less than a day.”

“Like I said, that totally was _not_ my fault,” Antonio said.


	3. Visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank WWMTgirl for prompting me into writing this, even if she doesn't know the full story. On another note, I'm looking for a beta for this story, specifically. I need some advice on daily life for Samurai in the 1600s. If you yourself, or someone you know, could possibly advise me, please message me and let me know. Thank you and enjoy!

Antonio bounced on his toes, watching as the group of pedestrians made their way off the ferry from the mainland.  He’d been on his way to his favorite fishing place when a surprise phone call had sent him to the docks instead.  Now, he scanned the group, looking for an all too familiar blond.

An old woman walking past him stumbled; Antonio darted forward, catching her before she could hit the pavement.  “Are you all right?”  Antonio asked as he steadied her.

“I’m just fine,” the older woman said, she bowed to him, _“Domo.”_

 _“Dou itashi mashite.”_   Antonio replied, and bowed in return.

The woman smiled at him, her eyes vanishing for a moment in the wrinkles.  “Farewell,” she murmured and walked away.

“Still helping little old ladies then?”

Antonio grinned, as he turned back around, “Nothing wrong with that, sometimes they have hot grandchildren to introduce me too.”

“Like you’d be interested,” Brett Hilliard said with a matching grin.

Antonio caught his extended hand and pulled Brett into a backslapping hug, “How are you?”  He asked.

“I’m great,” Brett replied, “you, on the other hand, you’ve found a great hiding spot.  Are you on the run from the law?  Did I blow your cover?”

Antonio laughed, “No,” he gestured to the town, “this is where I’m from.  My mom grew up here and I have a couple of distant cousins.  I’m just visiting.”  He stepped back, “I haven’t eaten yet, and I know a great spot.”

“Great, I’m starving,” Brett said, he hesitated, “I might have to borrow a couple of bucks though, most of my money is going to get the car fixed.”

“What’s wrong with your car?”  Antonio asked.  “And don’t worry, I’ll be happy to pay for lunch.”

“Alternator went out,” Brett said bitterly.

“Ouch,” Antonio said, “let’s get moving, the restaurant’s a couple of blocks from here.”

“Lead the way,” Brett said.

They walked together for a few minutes before Antonio asked, “How was your Christmas, by the way?”

“Hot,” Brett said, “Kailey and I had a command appearance at the Hilliard Family Christmas Party in Adelaide.”

“Double ouch,” Antonio said with a laugh.

“I did get to see Kat’s kid,” Brett said, “He’s going to be an interesting adult in ten years.”

Antonio nodded a little, thinking about Kat and her son.  After Kat’s fiancé had died days before their wedding, Kat had returned to Australia to raise the son he had left her.  There had been some scandal over Kat’s marriage, but Antonio had never tried to figure it out.  Of course, the irony of Antonio being friends with Brett through their days at the Wind Academy as an elemental triad, and being friendly acquaintances with _Kat_ through the Rangers amused him when sometimes.  “What’s he up to now?”  Antonio asked instead.

“Mike wants to be a jack of all trades, apparently.  He’s made friends with a number of local handymen, mechanics, and the like.  Kat says he’s becoming a great help around the house now, he’s actually taking care of the lawn without her having to bribe him.”  Brett shrugged.

“Yeah, but you’re an Earth Ninja,” Antonio said, “you _like_ working in the dirt.”

Screams filled the air and the scattered pedestrians began to look around.  Antonio rested his hand on his pocket, cradling his morpher as he scanned the street.  People were running down one of the cross streets, screaming.  There was the maniacal laugh of a Nighlok followed by something blowing up.  “You live here?”  Brett snapped.

“Cheap housing,” Antonio replied, “Monster shelter is this way, come on!”  His morpher began to vibrate as he led Brett down the street to the shelter.  Antonio knew that he couldn’t just run off, Jason would kill him for not making sure Brett was safe, and Kat would rip him a new one for getting Brett involved in the Rangers without her permission.  He bit his lip and checked the street, people were evacuating from the surrounding cafés and stores, heading for the same shelter.

Another explosion, louder and closer, set the crowd to screaming and running, shoving people aside as they went.  Two big men charged between Antonio and Brett, each carrying a pair of children.  Antonio slowed and changed his path, while Brett was carried away by the running crowd, Antonio managed to duck into an alley way out of the crowd.  A cop stopped and regarded him for a moment, and then nodded, clearly recognizing Antonio.  “Good luck,” the cop said.

“You to,” Antonio replied as he hauled out his morpher and hurried down the alley, “Go for Antonio.”

“Where were you?  Never mind, there’s a Nighlok downtown.  Get down there,” Mikayla said, she sounded like she was running.

“I’m already downtown,” Antonio said, “I had to get out of a crowd, sorry.  I’ll hold this thing until you get here.”  He reached the end of the alley and ran back towards where the Nighlok was, marked by another explosion.  “Samurai Morpher, Gold Power,” he shouted, then grabbed the stop sign on the corner to help him turn up the street.  “Hey you,” he shouted at the Nighlok, “hold it right there.”

“Gold Ranger,” the Nighlok said in a screechy, feminine voice.

Antonio stopped and took a moment to study his opponent.  The Nighlok looked like someone had thrown an octopus, a tube of lipstick, a cow and a hammer into a blender and turned on high.  “Who are you supposed to be?  Cowtopus?  Octocow?  Hamercowstick?”

“Clactolip,” the Nighlok said.

“Gesundheit,” Antonio said.  He reached back for his sword as the Nighlok lifted her hand.

“Moogers,” She declared.

“Barracuda Blade,” Antonio said and dove into the crowd of Moogers.

He was surrounded and pushing his way to a nearby building to get his back to the wall, when a clang behind him announced the arrival of the others.  “Couldn’t wait?”  Mikayla asked as she backed into him.

“No choice,” Antonio replied.  “Did you see the Nighlok?”

“Ugly as sin,” Mikayla said agreeably.  “We should get back to the others.”

“Right,” Antonio agreed as he turned around.  He tried to keep from telegraphing the flinch as he saw Mikayla’s uniform.

“Hey,” Mikayla said, and cuffed his helmet, “stop it, Tony.  We’ve got a Nighlok to deal with.”

“Right,” Antonio replied and followed her to where the other Rangers had cleared a large area.

“You two all right?”  Jayden asked as they joined them.

“Antonio’s being an idiot, but we’re fine,” Mikayla said.  She turned to look at Antonio, hands on her hips, “You need to stop, ok.”

“Sorry,” Antonio muttered, but he did feel bad.  He’d tried to focus on the traditional Samurai uniforms, instead of his own gold and blue uniform.  He hadn’t remembered what the Samurai uniforms looked like when Cam had helped him build his morpher, so he’d let the Power cast his suit and trusted it to be appropriate.  That Mikayla possessed a red and silver version of his own uniform was something he still wasn’t happy about; still, as Rocky had pointed out, the red and silver attested to Mikayla’s identity and heritage just as his gold and blue eluded to his ninja history and his gold identity.

“Worry about whatever it is later,” Jayden said, “we have a fight on our hands.”

FOHX

Battle over, Antonio made his way back to the monster shelter, where Brett was emerging looking worried.  “Tony!”  He shouted, “There you are, I was looking for you.”

“Yeah,” Antonio said, “They sent me down a few blocks to another shelter.”  He ignored the people who clearly recognized him and slung his hand over the other man’s shoulders, “Let’s get that dinner.  Your car will be ready before you know it.”


	4. Interlude I

The monsters were still behind me.

I had hoped that the ocean would have stopped them, but they were still there.  I could hear them howling every time I stopped.

The King Demon had called them Moogers, but every time I saw them, I was left thinking of those spirits made to torment souls into madness.  The fact that they still pursued me left me hopeful that I was not yet sunk in madness.

As I stumbled across the desert sand, guided by a full moon, I knew that if I did not find shelter before the sun rose, it would not be a case of  _if_  I went mad but  _when._

The howling was closer than ever.

Suddenly the sand gave way beneath me and I tumbled down a sand dune.  I landed on my face and when I looked up, the monsters were at the top of the hill.

Exhausted, I reached for my katana.  Even if it was useless against the demons, I would not go to my ancestors without a fight.


	5. Age Old Question

The boardwalk on a Wednesday morning was busy enough for an inveterate people watcher like Brett, but not so crowded for Antonio to feel uncomfortable.  It was quiet enough for the sounds of waves crashing on the shore to be a soothing counterpoint to the murmur of voices and the smell of the ocean was as soothing to Antonio as incense could be.

“So what’s wrong with your car exactly?”  Antonio asked as they leaned on the boardwalk railing, watching people pass by as they ate ice cream.

“I’m not sure,” Brett said with a grimace, “something about a clock, no a time, yes, a timing chain?  I don’t have a budget for this, Antonio!”

Antonio shook his head slightly and reached to put a calm hand on his friend’s arm.  He hesitated a moment before asking, “What did your dad say?”

“He said I should sell the car for whatever I can get and take the bus home,” Brett said.

Antonio snorted, “Like that’s helpful.”

“Kat called, she heard and said her ex, this guy named Tommy?  He said it might be better to sell a car as old as mine.  Fixing it will cost more than it’s worth, so take the cash and run with it.”  Brett shrugged, “So I talked to the mechanic and he offered me a thousand for it, after he took off what work he’s put in.”

“Just a thousand?”  Antonio asked turning back to his ice cream and fishing out a hunk of cookie dough to eat.

“I paid three hundred for it,” Brett said as he lifted his hand to lick where ice cream had dripped over his fingers.  “Kailey said I should take the money and run.”

Antonio chuckled, “Always listen to the wife.”

“Secret of a good life,” Brett agreed.

Antonio considered his friend a moment as he toyed with his spoon.  “If you want, I could loan you money to get back to Angel Grove.  We have a commuter plane over to San Francisco and you can fly back to Angel Grove.  You know I owe you for putting up with me during the Academy.”

Brett shook his head, “I never minded staying extra time, Antonio, neither did Kailey.  It wasn’t like we had to repeat all four years anyways.”

Something small and fast crashed into Antonio, who fell against Brett.  Brett steadied him until the weight eased off his legs.  Antonio looked down to see a little boy backing away from him, eyes wide.  “S-sorry,” the little boy said.

Antonio smiled, “It’s okay.  Did you want to see the water?”

The little boy nodded as he adjusted his backpack.

“Have a look, but be more careful next time,” Antonio said gently as he held up his ice cream cup, “I almost spilled my ice cream and you could have been hurt.”

The boy smiled at him as an older girl ran up, “Jimmy,” she scolded, “don’t run off.  I’m so sorry, mister.”

“It’s all right,” Antonio soothed her.  “No one was hurt, no ice cream was spilled.”  He glanced at Brett, “Let’s start heading back.”

“Lead on,” Brett said.

They walked along the boardwalk in silence, eating their ice cream and watching people pass by.  They were reaching the end where Antonio usually set up his booth when the other Rangers met them.  “Tony!”  Emily said as she ran up to them, “Hi, you disappeared yesterday.  Is everything okay?”

Antonio grinned, “Everything’s fine, Emily.  My friend Brett came by to visit.  He’s having some car trouble and needed company.  Brett, this is my friend Emily.  Emily, this is Brett Hilliard, we used to go to school together.  He and his wife Kaily were like mentors to me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Brett said with a slight nod.

“You too,” Emily said with a happy smile, “will you be staying in town long?”

“Not really,” Brett said, “apparently fixing my car would cost more than it’s worth, so I’m planning to sell it and go home and get a new one.  The car’s old enough to drink; it’s time to let it go.”

Emily glanced at Antonio who shrugged, “He means it is twenty-one years old,” he told her.

“Exactly,” Brett said.

The other rangers gathered around with friendly smiles, “Brett, these are my friends Kevin, Mia, and Mike.  Everyone, this is Brett Hilliard.”  Antonio slipped through the group to put his arm around Jayden’s waist with a soft smile, “This is Jayden.”

“This is _the_ Jayden?”  Brett said, “Hi, Antonio used to talk about you all the time.”

“He did,” Jayden said, eyeing Antonio with amusement.

“Not _all_ the time,” Antonio protested.

“More than enough,” Brett said with a laugh.

“Either way, consider it revenge for the number times I had to hear you talk about Kailey, or Kailey talk to me about you.”  Antonio said before reaching over to kiss Jayden’s check gently.

“There you are,” Mikayla said as she approached, “is everything okay?”

“Hey Kayla,” Antonio said, “I was just introducing everyone to Brett.  Brett, this is Jayden’s sister Mikayla.”

“Hello,” Brett said with a wave.

“Hi,” Mikayla said, looking thoughtful.

“As nice as it is to meet everyone, I need to get going,” Brett said.  “I do want to get back home sometime this year.” 

“Hey man,” Antonio said, “take care of yourself.  Let me know if you want to take me up on my offer.”

“I will,” Brett said, “it was good to see you again.”  He waved and walked away.

Antonio watched him leave; hand tight around Jayden’s waist until he was ought of sight.  “That was Brett Hilliard?”  Mikayla asked.

“Maybe,” Antonio replied.

“Did you feel something?”  Mikayla asked softly.

“I met Brett in Angel Grove,” Jayden said, equally soft.  “He knew exactly who I was.”

“He hasn’t driven that Sundance in years,” Antonio said.

“Then who was that?”  Emily asked.

Antonio glanced at Jayden, then at Mikayla, then the rest of the team, “Did you ever wonder why they did such an elaborate set up to ensure that Mikayla would be safe?”


	6. Interlude II

His head was spinning, but he knew that it was all true.  Not just the demons that had attacked his people and driven him on a mad quest, but his rescue.  He'd been snatched away by a beam of red light before the demons had reached him and now he stood facing the being that had done it.

It insisted it wasn't a god, but he felt there was more to it than that.  No mortal being lived in a tube like that, consisting of only the head.  There was no balance there, no sense.  Whatever it was, it was more than he was.  

And it was offering him the answer to his prayers.

First, though, first he had to choose four warriors to stand with him under this being, like samurai to their noble master, to defeat the demons.  Not Ronin, not warriors to a lord they could no longer follow.  Samurai, and more than samurai, given the weapons of the gods to fight the demons that threatened their people.

He knew exactly whom he trusted to fight with him.

 


	7. Danger in the Shadows

“What was so important that we had to come all the way back to Shiba House?”  Mike asked as they settled around the dining table.

“Because there is an aspect of your training that had to wait,” Mikayla said, “and you need to know it.”  She glanced at Jayden and Antonio.  “Jayden and I grew up knowing it, because of our situation, and Antonio learned about it while we were on Eltare.”

Antonio snapped his fingers and pointed at Emily, “I have something to talk to you about later.  It’s important, but not urgent.  I almost forgot.”

Mikayla cleared her throat, “You all know the story of Dekker, half-man, half-Nighlok.”

Mike nodded.  Beside him, Emily shifted, and then her hand rested on his knee.

“Dekker isn’t the only half-Nighlok in existence,” Mikayla said.  “Some of them are like Dekker, forced into the change.  Others did so willingly for power.  Dekker is unique in that he feels no loyalty to Master Xandred, others, both forced and willing are loyal to Xandred above all.”

“Like Dayu?”  Mia asked.

“Dayu has embraced her Nighlok half,” Mikayla said, “at least from what Antonio told me.  The ones I’m talking about?  They still look human most of the time.  They do Master Xandred’s bidding, such as tracking down a little girl to kill her.  They get involved with humans, living seemingly normal lives in as much as they can, aiming for positions where they can cause the greatest suffering.”

“Nighloks themselves get the most potent reaction from humans,” Jayden said, leaning forward.  “A single Nighlok attack can bring in as much power as, say, a dozen plane crashes with no survivors.  Some of those big events like 9-11 or genocides, they’re just pure human evil, but others are encouraged by the half-Nighloks.”

“If we can seal off the underworld that power will no longer get through,” Mikayla said.  “With imperfect and breaking seals, it’s easier for human misery to give power to the Sanzu River.  That’s why defeating Xandred is so difficult, his agents are up here creating chaos and strife and sending the power back to him, even when there are no open attacks.”

“How do you know who is half-Nighlok and who isn’t?”  Kevin asked.

“It depends on who it is,” Antonio said.  “I was a bit fooled by Brett’s doppelganger at first, which means that the guy knows and spent time around Brett, just not recently.  Other times, you could be standing right next to a half-Nighlok and never know it.”

“Some people are sensitive to them,” Mikayla said, she smiled at Jayden, “the Shiba line has always been sensitive to the power they hold, other than that, it's almost impossible until they actually use their abilities or openly admit their allegiance.”

“I might be able to,” Antonio said with a slight wince, “I just don’t like being that open on the off chance I might sense a half-Nighlok.”

“Your empathy?”  Emily guessed.

Antonio nodded as Jayden took his hand.  They exchanged a quick smile, and then Antonio glanced at the rest of the team.  “It’s difficult to be open as an Empath.  Everyone feels things, okay?  All the time, and they’re not calm about it.  I feel all of that when I’m unshielded.  My teacher told me once that if he wanted to punish me, he’d take me to a local mall and strip off the shields he’d put on me and leave me there.  Being around you guys, it’s nice.  The Power filters our bond for me, so if I needed to, I could relax my shields, especially given the protections on Shiba House.”  Antonio twisted slightly to look over his shoulder, “And Ji is just as calm as he looks most of the time.  Being out in public is a lot harder.  If I suspect danger, I’d relax my shielding and see what I can find out, but I’d prepare myself for it.”

A loud ring filled the air, _“Yo, Tonio, pick up your phone!”_   Someone shouted.

“Really,” Antonio muttered as he pulled out his morpher, which was ringing again.  “Hello?”  He said, and then grinned, “Hey Dad.”  He was quiet for a long moment, listening.  “Awesome, hold on.”  He covered his phone and looked up, “Dad checked on Brett and his wife, they’re fine.  Nobody’s bothered them or anything.”  He turned back to the phone.

Emily grinned at Mike, and then pulled him into a hug.  “I’m glad they’re okay.  Tony was going to introduce me to Brett, but it didn’t work out that way.”

Mike put his arm around Emily’s shoulders, “I’m glad too,” He said, and his stomach growled.

Emily snickered, “We should have eaten before we came back.”

“It’s okay,” Mike said.

“I’m hungry too,” Kevin said.

“I was looking forward to seeing Bulkmeier’s,” Mikayla said.

“Me too,” Antonio said suddenly, as he put his morpher away.  “Why don’t we just go?”

“We can take a driver this time,” Jayden said, “it’ll be faster.”

Antonio turned, “Ji, would you like to join us?  Bulkmeier’s is a pretty nice place, even if the owner’s a bit weird.”

“No,” Ji said, “but thank you for inviting me.  I will order a car around.”

They headed out, Antonio cutting over to his jeep.  Emily squeezed Mike’s hand and hurried after him, “Hey Antonio,” she said, “mind if I ride with you?”

Antonio smiled at her, “Sure, Emily.”

Mike watched them for a long moment.

“Mike,” Kevin said, “are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Mike said, “I’m coming.”

The ride into town was mostly quiet.  Jayden and Mikayla were murmuring quietly together and Mia was singing along softly to the radio.  Mike just stared out the window, people watching, as they got closer to town.  He smiled a little bit at a couple, dressed for hiking and pouring over a map.  There weren’t many tourists on the island, and he couldn’t imagine needing a map to get around in any case.

Then they were at the restaurant, and Mike found himself with an armful of a sad Emily.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”  He asked quietly as he hugged her.

“Sorry,” Antonio said.

“No, it’s okay,” Emily said, looking back at Antonio.  “I’m glad you told me.  I’ve never heard many stories about Ben.”

Mike squeezed Emily tightly, he knew of Emily’s older brother Ben.  The man had gone to Eltare to fix the morphers and died there.  He wondered what Antonio had told Emily to make her sad, but somewhat happy at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, guys. I got caught up in my head for a bit. Apologizes for this chapter being an info-dump. That's what happens when you fail to plot out the resolution of a series until you're actually AT the resolution of a series. (I'm trying to do better, I promise!)


	8. Interlude III

It always came back to the farms.  Protect the farms, work the farms, avoid the farms, destroy the farms.  His family had come from the farms; he had aunts, uncles, and cousins still tending the fields around their village.

Perhaps this awareness of the farmers and their importance to Japan lent itself to his reputation as a strategist.  Not that he planned to complain about it.  It was a sound strategy, and allowed him to protect his family until the day he couldn’t.

No matter how much incense was burnt, he still smelled the blood.

No matter how many pretty dancers surrounded him, he still saw the all too still bodies.

No matter how sweet the music, he only hears the wails of the injured and the grieving.

No matter how plentiful the sake, his throat chokes on remembered smoke.

No matter how soft the fabric that surrounds him, he remembers the feel of bloody dirt, bloated bodies, and the feel of flies.

He cannot forget when the Nighloks came down on his family’s village and what he found too late.

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

 

His family had come from trade, bringing coveted silks to the great families and building great wealth.  Wealth that had led to his father’s position and now his own, a samurai.

Silks had surrounded him growing up.  It had filled his childhood and continued on into adult hood.  It filled his life, seeping in the cracks left around his sword, his armor, and his horse.

The demons made him think of silk.

But silk was warmth and enveloped him with memories of home.

The demons were cold, leaving a train of death and destruction.  They were nightmares and horrors.

Silk might hide flaws or enhance beauty, but it gave happiness to its owner in some small measure just by existing.

As he cut yet another kimono into bandages, he could only vow to see the demons driven from their world.


	9. A Little Trip

Mike found Emily sitting on her bed, surrounded by a shipping box and several half-wrapped figurines.  She looked upset as she freed one of the figurines from its wrappings.  “Hey Emily,” Mike said as he rapped on her doorframe, “What’s wrong?”

“Serena sent me a care package,” Emily said, her face twisting up, “I haven’t written to her in weeks!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Mike said, coming to perch on the edge of her bed.  “We’ve been busy, I’m sure Serena will understand.  If she’s anywhere near as nice as you are, I’m sure of it.”

Emily smiled at him, “Do you think so?”

“I know so.”

“Is everything okay?”

They turned to find Mikayla standing in the door, “I thought I heard raised voices.”

Emily smiled, “Serena sent me some things is all, we’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to write her.”

“Oh,” Mikayla said, she was still for a long moment, her face impassive.  Then a door slammed and Mikayla brightened, “Tony’s back!”  She turned and hurried away.

Mike watched the door for a long moment.

“Hey,” Emily said touching his arm, “she is trying.”

“I know,” Mike said.  He smiled at Emily, “Maybe you should send Serena something back?  Something about the island and all.  We can get ice cream after.”

Emily hesitated then smiled brightly, “Okay.”

“So what does Serena like?”  Mike asked as he stood up.

“Snow globes and pandas, or animals in general really,” Emily replied, also standing up.

Mike grinned, “I know just the place and its right down from the _best_ ice cream shop in the city.  Come on!”

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

World Hope wasn’t a very large shop.  It had a single storefront with a window and the door, and was filled with shelves.  The shelves were filled with animal-based artwork from blown or molded glass to ceramics.

“Oh wow,” Emily said quietly.

“Well, well, the prodigal son returns.”  Ms. Wilma declared from the counter.

“Hey, Ms. Wilma,” Mike said hurrying to hug her and kiss her cheek.  “How have you been?”

“I’m just fine,” Ms. Wilma replied.

“Ms. Wilma, this is Emily,” Mike said, gesturing to Emily.  “Emily, this is Ms. Wilma, co-owner and store manager of World Hope.”

“Hi,” Emily said shyly.

“Don’t be scared sweetie,” Ms. Wilma said, “I knew your brother Ben.  He dated my daughter Karen for a bit before things got interesting.”

Emily smiled a little.

“Now what brings you to World Hope?”  Ms. Wilma asked.

“Pandas and snow globes,” Mike said.  He ducked back around the counter, “They’re over here, Em.”

He walked down the shelves, remembering a lifetime of running around this very store.  His mom and Ms. Wilma had opened it with his dad’s life insurance money, and had made the move to selling online before so many others.  They weren’t millionaires, but his mom and Ms. Wilma had kept their families going strong for years.

The panda section had more figurines than anything, but there were a line of snow globes across the back.  Mike presented them to Emily with a grin and a Vanna White flourish.

“Oh wow,” Emily said, leaning over to look at the globes.

The door chimes rang and Mike looked up to find a young Japanese couple standing in the doorway.

“Welcome to World Hope,” Wilma said, “May I help you with anything?”

The two exchanged a glance, “Do you have a bathroom?”  The woman asked.

“Certainly,” Wilma said, “past the counter by the whales.”

“Thank you,” the woman said and hurried away.

The man wandered over to the counter, studying the shelves, “Interesting shop,” he said.

“Perhaps,” Wilma said.

“What charities do you donate to?”  The man said, clearly reading the sign on the counter top.

“That depends on the purchase.  For most, it’s half to the World Wildlife Foundation, and half to a specific charity of the item bought.  For the domestic animals there, we donate to the local SPCA.  For online purchases, they go to the country’s equivalent of the ASPCA if possible.”  Ms. Wilma said, “Except for the ones in this case, “these get donated to the Ranger Foundation, to help the victims of monster attacks rebuild their lives.”

“You said online purchases, you have a website?”  The man asked.

“Yes, here’s our card,” Ms. Wilma said.

“My wife collects monkeys,” the man said, “I now have a source for birthday gifts, I see.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something perfect,” Ms. Wilma said.

“In the meanwhile, I would like to buy that set of figurines,” the man said.

“Mike,” Emily said.

“What’s up?”  Mike asked.

“I don’t know which one to choose,” Emily said.

“Which ones do you think Serena would like?”  Mike asked.

Emily pointed, “That statue, definitely.”  It was a whimsical looking panda with a colorful beach umbrella in a beach chair.  “And that snow globe.”  It was a mother and baby panda in a bamboo forest, symbolized by the base, which was worked to appear like it was covered in bamboo stalks.  When Mike picked it up, the snow proved to be iridescent.

“So, to ask a stupid question, why not get both?”

Emily hesitated, and then blushed, “I forget we get paid.  I don’t really have much I need to buy.”

“Then it’s a good time to start.”  Mike said.

“Right,” Emily said and collected her choices.

“Now, there’s something else,” Mike said, “something I think that Serena will love.  I think we should get the whole team to help send it to her.”

“Okay,” Emily said.

There were few wooden sculptures in the shop.  They had been made by Ms. Wilma’s brother; an old WWII vet who believed in making things by hand meant more.

There was one set of realistic looking animals, the Ranger’s animals.  “I thought she’d like these,” Mike said.  “Ms Wilma can put a hold on them if you wanted.”

Emily studied the ape for a moment, and then nodded, “I think she would.”

“Then let’s pay and go talk to everyone,” Mike said softly.

The couple was gone, so Emily simply walked over and put her stuff down.

“Did you find everything?”  Ms. Wilma asked.

“I did,” Emily said with a smile.  “I’m going to come back and look some more later.”

“Here,” Mike said suddenly.  “I didn’t realize Mr. William was making more.”

Ms. Wilma smiled, “He’s bored, Mike.  I had to smuggle the wood in, but it makes him happy.”

Mike slid a wooden miniature Earth Slicer across the counter.  “I think Serena would enjoy this too.”

Their morphers went off, but Emily answered her first, “This is Emily, Mike’s with me.”

“Guys, we’ve got Moogers at Coral Park, and signs of a Nighlok.”  Antonio said, sounding breathless.

“We’re on our way,” Emily said.

“We’ll be back,” Mike told Ms. Wilma as they ran from the store.


	10. Interlude IV

Second son, little brother, second best; the words had been seared into his soul.

Hold back, stand in his shadow, let him be the best.  The commands had become the whip that drove him.

Lord Shiba had been the first who had seen _him,_ who had cared for the second son of a Samurai.

Lord Shiba swore the demons could be fought, that they were not unstoppable.

He had sworn to help Lord Shiba, to believe that an old myth would save their people.

Lord Shiba had found him worthy, and that was a trust he could not betray.

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

To him, the forge was the heartbeat of the village.  Always steady, always filling the air with a beat that directed the rest of life.

The demons were destroying that beat.  They always left a trail of the dead and maimed, but where others seemed random; he noticed that _every_ blacksmith was left, usually outside his forge, sometimes with his hammer nearby, body ripped to shreds.

They were killing the village heart, stopping that beat.  It echoed and filled his mind.  These demons weren’t just targeting humanity for destruction, they were ripping the heart from people, leaving them wallowing in fear and grief.

Shiba had better keep his promise to stop this.


	11. The Beacons Are Lit

The fight was bad.  They had been badly placed to get there fast, all of them.  Preliminary reports said it was the deadliest attack in twenty years.

The team returned to Shiba House exhausted, with dull, lifeless eyes.

“How,” Kevin coughed as he sat down, rubbing his chest.  “How did they know?  We were scattered, how did they know?”

“Where was everyone?”  Jayden asked, watching everyone sit down.  “I was approving some new prints at FTP.  I’ve had to put it off lately, so when I had the afternoon, I went.”

“I was talking to Dad,” Antonio said, “weekly Skype session, so I was using my computer in the cottage.  I had a meeting with the vampires this morning too.”  Jayden couldn’t even bring himself to chide Antonio for his nickname for the people who managed his money.

“I was here, training,” Mikayla said.

“So was I,” Kevin offered.

“Mike took me shopping,” Emily said, “I wanted to send Serena a thank you gift, since she sent me a care package.”

“Speaking of,” Ji said, “You and Mike have packages from World Hope waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” Mike said.

“Cooking class,” Mia said dully.

Jayden noticed Mikayla starting to speak, so he moved on, “Who planned their trip before today?”  He raised his hand, along with Mia and Tony.  “Okay, look, I don’t want to confine you.  You aren’t prisoners.  It’s just that we can’t scatter like today.  We’ve been a bit spoiled, but clearly our grace period is coming to an end.”  He bit his lip and thought for a moment, “First, I think that unless we’re going out as a group, and I mean all seven of us, we should limit our numbers to two or three out at a time.”  He glanced at Ji, “Will you keep track?”

Ji nodded, “Certainly.”

“Okay, we’ll all check in with Ji, and we’ll start using the drivers more.  I know walking or biking into town is nice, but we need to keep in better contact.”  He glanced at Mikayla.

“Jayden’s right,” Mikayla said.  “I would add that we should try to travel in pairs.  Antonio and I, we’re game changers, and Xandred will have to react soon, especially if he wants to keep control over the Nighlok.”

Jayden’s heart thumped hard at the thought of Xandred’s likely actions.  “Kevin, Mia, now might be a good time to tell your families we’ll be moving them.  The bunkers were aired out and are prepared for occupants.  Emily, Mike, we’ve had security on your families, we’ll be stepping that up.  Xandred isn’t known for ignoring our hostages to fate.”

“What about Aunt Lenore?”  Mike asked.

“Nick’s wife?”  Laura said.

“Yeah, she lives in Ocean Bluffs,” Mike said.

“Warn her,” Mikayla said.

Mike shot out of the room, heading for the kitchen phone.

“What’s the danger?”  Antonio demanded.

“Halflings like Dekker,” Jayden said, “but completely loyal to Xandred.”

“Human faces with Nighlok souls,” Mikayla said.

“I have to warn my Dad,” Antonio said.  He yanked out his morpher and pressed a button, “Kids won’t stop them, will they?”

They were all reminded of the line of white sheets, with their too small, too still secrets.

“Zeo Green.”

Antonio’s face cleared, becoming almost cold.  “Zeo Green, Samurai Gold.  Code Nightshade, level three.”

“Confirm Nightshade three.  Targets?”

“Primary, Park-Sloan.  Secondary, K-Scotts.  Tertiary- Ninja Storm.  All Rangers should be on alert.”

“Source?”

“Xandred agents, human face with a Nighlok soul.  Established history of attacking dependents.  Recommend high alert until we end this.”

“Understood.  Focus on target, Gold.  We’ll keep the watch fires lit.”

Antonio slumped in his chair as he killed the connection.  Jayden might have been the only one close enough to hear him murmur, “The beacons are lit, and the watch fires will spread.  It has to be enough.”

Mike walked in, “I sent Aunt Lenore to JKP.  I know the Rangers use that as a base.  Is there some way we can make sure they know who she is?”

“I’ll call Theo,” Antonio offered, looking up.  “RJ and Casey will need to keep their lines clear.”  He pressed a code on his phone.

“Jungle Blue.”

“Samurai Gold,” Antonio replied.  “Theo, I need a favor, it’s related to Nightshade.”

“Go,” Theo said.

“A woman named Lenore Ramos,” Tony glanced at Mike, who nodded, “is coming to JKP for sanctuary.  Her nephew is my teammate, the Samurai Green, and her husband was the Samurai Green before him.”

“We’ll keep her safe,” Theo said.  “I’ll call to let you know what she’s here, but Doctor O just showed up.”

“Thanks man,” Antonio said.  He smiled at Mike, “Theo will call.”

“What do we do now?”  Emily asked, looking scared.

“We draw Xandred out,” Jayden said.

“Then Mikayla will bitch-slap him with the seal.”  Antonio offered.

“Then we load him with nukes and send him back?”  Mike suggested.

“They’d probably enjoy it,” Kevin pointed out.

“Either way,” Jayden said, “we train, we fight, and we win.  We are the Samurai Rangers.  We’ve fought against Xandred as has our ancestors.  In our veins are the blood of Samurai; _seventeen generations_ of Samurai.  We are their legacy, but more than that, we chose this.  We _all_ had a choice.  There are others, be _we_ chose to answer this call, to fight.  More than that, we are Power Rangers.  We are strong together, but we no longer have to fight alone.”

They were all standing now.

“The beacons are lit, the watch fires burn.  If we call, they will come.”

**_THUD…THUD…THUD_ **

Someone was knocking on the gate.


	12. Interlude V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I've been doubling up my drabbles, but this is how it worked out. There's one more drabble and three more chapters to go.

People had expectations about the Lord.  They expected to be kept safe, to be protected.  A lord was a paragon of honor, charity, and virtue.

Lords were not supposed to show emotion when their entire family was destroyed.

Lords were not supposed to seek vengeance by any means necessary.

The words, rules and laws, pounded in his head.  Occasionally, they overruled the images of his family’s too still bodies.

None of it quenched the burning rage.

None of it silenced the accusing ghosts.

Only one thought, one voice, could drive away the ghosts and the rage.  And when it spoke, he listened, very, very carefully.

 


	13. Enter Shiba

It was almost instant.  They morphed as the moved.  Jayden took a moment to admire his team’s growing proficiency even as he worried that this was the sign of Xandred’s biggest attack yet.

As they entered the late afternoon sunlight, Jayden remembered the last time Xandred had come to House Shiba and almost fell when he skidded on the gravel drive.

Antonio caught his arm, holding him up, and slowing all of them.  His tight squeeze brought Jayden back to the present, and what they would find beyond the door.  “Mike, Kevin, stand left.  Mia, Emily, stand right.  Mikayla, Antonio with me.  Wait until we know what’s going on.  Don’t attack.”

Everyone moved, even Mikayla.

Moments like this made Jayden grateful for Antonio.  Whatever had happened on Eltare had enabled him and Mikayla to work out an agreement.  In civilian matters, Mikayla’s word was final, but in Ranger matters, he, the Red Ranger, was the only voice of command.  Dual control, not _duel_ control, as Antonio had phrased it.

Once everyone was in position, Jayden looked back to Ji, standing in the doorway, and nodded.  Ji nodded back as the gate began to open.  Perhaps he was taking a stupid risk, not pulling his katana the way Mikayla and the others had, although Antonio had crossed his arms with his blade tucked under them and almost out of sight.  He seemed to convey disinterest and boredom just in the angle of his helmet.

Six people stood waiting on the other side of the door.

Their leader was a middle age Japanese man in a black suit with a dark red shirt that had a mandarin collar.  On his right was an elderly Japanese woman in an Edo Komon kimono with a green-based pattern.  Behind her was another woman, late thirties perhaps, with a little boy on her hip.  Mother and son both wore bright yellow t-shirts; although the mother wore jeans and the boy wore overalls.  On his left was a young couple, both in blue jeans.  The man wore a pink button down and a navy blue tie while the woman wore a navy blue sundress with a wide yellow belt.

“We are looking for Lord Shiba,” the middle-aged man announced.

Mikayla stepped forward as she pulled her helmet off, “I am Mikayla Shiba, eighteenth Lady of House Shiba.  Who are you to have come calling at my door?”

“I am Shiba Katsu,” the man said with a bow.

“The collateral line,” Jayden murmured to Antonio as they returned the gesture.

“You are a long way from Japan,” Mikayla observed as Jayden and Antonio pulled their helmets off.

“We are here on family business,” Katsu replied, “May we enter.”

“You must understand our need for caution,” Mikayla said, “there is a test to ensure you are who you claim to be.”

“Of course,” Katsu said.

Jayden and Mikayla looked at Antonio, who frowned at the group.  “I don’t know,” he said finally, “they seem human, and I don’t think they’re lying exactly.”  He shrugged, “Maybe I’m just tired.  They don’t feel like Nighloks.”

Jayden nodded and bowed to the group.  “I am Jayden Shiba of Earth, Red Samurai Ranger.  I bid you welcome to Shiba House.”

Katsu led his people inside and the gates swung close.


	14. Interlude VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, these short chapters that seem nameless? They're supposed to be about the First Samurai Rangers. There is character death in this chapter. It's not graphic, but it's blunt, if that makes sense. The character is an unnamed OC of sorts. (Given that there is canon for the character, but I made up what I wanted about him)

The power didn’t make them immortal.  He had wondered.  Shiba had proven it made them better, but not even the strange green uniform could protect him.

The Demon King’s onslaught had been relentless and he’d met each strike with his own until he’d been overwhelmed and the uniform had vanished around him.

The pain of the Demon King’s sword shocked him breathless.

As the Demon King pulled the sword free, he felt something stirring, as if the power was rushing into his gut, trying to save him.

His daughter, the light of his life, appeared, sobbing.

He’d fallen and could not remember it.

With fading strength, he pushed the magical katana into his daughter’s hands and pointed.

After a moment, she took the sword and stood, screaming words that he could not hear.

The green uniform appeared as she charged the demons.

He watched the sunlight on the sword for a long moment as it made its deadly arch, but then everything faded in a rush of green light.

His daughter had been born for that blade.


	15. Family Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if I messed up the names. I tried to get it right. I just occasionally suffer from research fail.

They gathered in the dining room as Ji directed the servants to place extra chairs and make tea.  Antonio hovered, uncertain.  The Rangers tended to care for themselves normally, leaving only the heavy or extensive cleaning for the servants.  It made him supremely uncomfortable to be waited on.

Also, seeing these people, these collateral lines, made him all too aware of how new he was to the Samurai Rangers.

Jayden caught his elbow and dragged him onto a futon while Mikayla took her own spot at the head of the table.  Kevin and Mia stood behind the three of them as bodyguards, both morphed and with their helmets off, while Mike and Emily stood behind the two of them, also morphed and with their helmets off.

“Lady Shiba,” Katsu said, “we have been under the impression that you were dead.”

“My father sent me into hiding.  Jayden was a decoy to allow me time to master the sealing symbol.  Allowing our allies to believe me dead was part of my protection.  _Sometimes you have to fool a friend to fool an enemy._ ”

“If you have mastered the symbol, why do you not wear the red uniform?”  Katsu asked.

“I am not a Red Ranger,” Mikayla said, “I am a Silver Ranger; to use the red morpher will kill me.”

“But you are Lady Shiba,” the guy in pink said.

“Fun fact,” Antonio said, forcing himself to sound cheerful, “the Power _doesn’t care_.  Silver Rangers _cannot_ use other morphers, even morphers that fall in the Silver spectrum.”

“And who are you?”  Katsu asked.

Antonio lifted his chin, keeping his voice steady and cheerful, “Antonio Garcia of Earth, Samurai Gold Ranger.  Foster son of the Green Zeo and Yellow Zeo Rangers, Student of the Blue Wind and Green Samurai of the Wind Ninja Academy.  Water Ninja and Samurai Third Rank, as conveyed by Mizushima Takeshi.  Senior Gold Ranger of Earth.”  He leaned into Jayden slightly, “I’m team sixth, liaison to the Ranger Seniors and Elders, and something of the local expert on Rangers.”

Jayden wrapped his arm around Antonio’s waist, “Easy, Tony.  It’s okay.”

Antonio ducked his head down towards Jayden’s ear, “Sorry, just nervous.”

“It’s okay, at least you sound impressive.”

Antonio shrugged, “It is what it is.”

“Antonio’s position is not for you to decide,” Mikayla said sharply, responding to something Antonio had missed.

“I’ve got this,” Jayden said as he stood up.  “I am the Red Ranger on this team.  When it comes to the Rangers, I am the _only_ authority so long as Xandred remains a threat.  If you seek to interfere with _my_ team, I will haul you to Eltare and see you prosecuted.  Interfering with a Ranger team in open warfare is a war crime.”

“Peace boy,” the old lady snapped.  “That’s not why we’re here.  Now, I’m Tsukino Midori, of the green line.  Shame you went back to boys.”

Mike shrugged, “Fortune’s chance.  My name is Mike Ramos.”

“I am Natsuko,” the lady in yellow said, she touched the boy gently; “this is Yori.”

“I am Emily,” Emily said with a bow.

“I understand your sister Brenda had the morpher before you,” Natsuko said.

“You must be mistaken.  My brother Ben was the last Samurai Yellow.  My sister never held the morpher.”  Emily replied calmly.

“My apologies,” Natsuko said.

“I am Ryuu,” the young man in pink said, he smiled at Mia, “It is good to see you again.  You were missed at the party.”

“I wish I could have made it,” Mia said.  She glanced at Mikayla, “As you might recall, our line went collateral with my mom.  Ryuu is my cousin.  We usually go to Japan for Grandmother’s birthday, but this year, I couldn’t make it.”

“I am Manami,” the blue clad woman said gently as she took Ryuu’s hand.  “I am from the blue line.”

“Kevin,” Kevin said shortly.

“Not to sound rude,” Jayden said, tightening his arm around Antonio, “but why are you here?”

“As you may recall, the Fifth Lord Shiba was something of a prophet before his death,” Katsu said, “he left writings behind.  One of his statements brought us here.”

“Then speak the words of our ancestor, that we may know of his wisdom,” Mikayla said, sounding like a queen address a subject.

Katsu produced a folded piece of paper from his jacket and opened it.  _“’I awoke from the dream clear minded, as I always am after such dreams and aware of the importance of what I had learned.  The Great Gates to the Sanzu River are many, and will only close with great sacrifice.  The time will come when only a single Gate remains open and the battles will seem unending.’_

_“’In those days shall the Guardian come.  Not born of the Samurai, his knowledge and skills will awaken ancient powers and his heart will show forgiveness and warmth to the long lost light.  Be warned, Keepers of History, to achieve total victory, the Great Secret must be shared.’”_

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

Jayden clung to Antonio, not sure if he was holding him for comfort, or holding the now vibrating gold ranger back.  Finally, Antonio stroked Jayden’s clutching fingers gently, “Another Fun Fact,” he said, “Gold Rangers are the team guardian.  We’re the sort who protects our team, our people, and our land, usually in that order.”

“And you helped me,” Mikayla said, “Forgiveness, freely given and the warmth of friendship.”

Antonio grinned at her, “You forgave me too.”

Jayden cleared his throat, wondering how life had come about to _him_ having to drag _Mikayla_ back on topic.  Antonio had a tendency to wander off topic, so Jayden was somewhat more tolerant, to a certain extent.  “What is the great secret then?”

Katsu raised his eyebrows.

“You know, I’m all for dramatic reveals,” Mike said, “I love old mystery movies like Murder She Wrote, but we’re tired and hungry and we did have a battle earlier.  Can we possibly get this moving so I can eat and get settled in the hot tub sometime tonight?”

Tsukino Midori chuckled, “Boy, I like you.”

Jayden glanced over and caught Mike’s grin.  “Green Rangers are the team’s spirit, and usually stereotyped as practical jokers, and personally, I don’t stand on ceremony because ceremony can’t stand to be stood on.”

 _“Michael,”_ Jayden said firmly.

Mike’s smile faded and he ducked his head, “Sorry Jay.”

Antonio tapped Jayden’s hand lightly as he rested his head on Jayden’s shoulder.  A sense of worry and uncertainty drifted through Jayden’s mind.  Antonio squeezed his hand again and Jayden recognized the pattern he was making.

Jayden looked at Katsu, “My apologies, but we did have a battle today.”

“Of course,” Katsu said black eyes dark and thoughtful.  “You are familiar with the creation of Nighloks, yes?”

Jayden nodded.

“Imagine a time before Xandred, before the Nighloks, before…”

“Monsters and magic and nothing they were ever rained for,” Antonio said dreamily.  After a moment, he looked up, “Am I the only MCU fan here?”

“Tony,” Jayden said, “please.”

“Sorry,” Antonio said.  “Adrenaline crash mixed with endorphins.”

Jayden blessed Ji’s training as he controlled his expression, “Are you all right?”

“I’ll be fine, just biochem throwing me off,” Antonio said.  “Promise, I’m not even seeing triple anymore.”

“What about double?”  Mikayla asked, tension in the way she gripped her seat.

“Working on it,” Antonio replied.  Mikayla relaxed.  “I apologize for the interruption.”

Katsu nodded, “In the days before the Nighlok invasion began, the greatest threat to the people were bandits.  We of the Samurai class fought them.  There was one particular bandit group, led by a ronin, became the focus of Japan.  Fighters were gathered from all over Japan to hunt this group, for they acted in small groups under the command of selected lieutenants of the ronin.”

Jayden let his finger rub into Antonio’s hip.  He’d heard the story of the Samurai more time than he could count.  Antonio and he had played Samurai versus ronin in the courtyard a hundred times.  There had been something about the idea of a master-less Samurai that had appealed to both of them before they’d understood what the ronin had done.

“With so much effort, the bandits were eventually captured and executed.  The lord who led the final hunt was given many honors by the emperor, but on his return home, he found the ronin’s final revenge.  Every member of his family and household who had not ridden with him was dead.  It is said the lord went mad in his grief,” Katsu said.

Jayden’s attention was caught, because he’d never heard this part before.

“Driven by grief, the Lord forsook his lands and people to focus on hunting bandits.  With him rode a small group loyal to his goals who had suffered similar losses.  They roamed Japan for years, leaving a trail of dead bandits in their wake.  Then the demon attacks began.  They killed bandits and the villagers who aided them, and it was not long before they were simply attacking villages regardless of their guilt.

“The army was sent to stop the demons, but they were overwhelmed.  Most of them where what we now call Moogers, but there were 13 Nighloks who led the attacks.  Their devastation is what led Shiba to seek aid.”

“He went to Zordon of Eltare,” Jayden said.

“Zordon was a great wizard trapped in an alternate dimension but could communicate with ours.  He spent ten thousand years developing weapons and tech, and then sending it out for Rangers to quest for.”  Antonio added distractedly.  “The Eltarean people consider Zordon to be their equivalent of a saint.  I’ve been asked to pass on a request to examine any records that exist concerning Lord Shiba’s meeting with Zordon.”

“Appreciate is an understatement,” Mikayla said dryly, “but we can discuss that later.  I’m going to guess that Lord Bandit-Hunter had something to do with the demons?”

“In his grief, the lord listened to the lies of a demon and freed them,” Katsu said.  “His company allowed the demons to possess them to become better at killing.  The lord gave himself to a Demon King.  By the time the Samurai Rangers were formed, all that was left where Xandred and his loyal Nighloks.”

“That’s not the big secret is it?”  Mikayla asked.

“No,” Katsu said.  “The lord who became Xandred was named Shiba no Kamatari, the first acknowledged lord was his son and heir.”

“Very Star Wars-esque,” Antonio said, “and a great secret, but the real question here is completely different.”

“What question is that?”  Katsu asked.

“Did you actually kill the collaterals, or did you play einee-menie-minee-moe with the Shiba Facebook page?


	16. Interlude VII

The first victory came the day the First Samurai Green fell.  When his daughter took up his sword and summoned the Green Armor, a new surge of energy swept through them.  They drove Xandred and his warriors back from their march on Kyoto with renewed fervor.  So fierce was their defense, so strongly they fought, that in the end it was Xandred who broke and ran.

As they looked over the destruction left by Xandred, the Samurai looked at each other.  Later there would be words, agreements and alliances, even a marriage to protect the Samurai Green from her brother.  Right now, in the bonds that were more than words, they agreed.  They, and their heirs, would be waiting for Xandred’s return.  No matter what it took, they would be there, strong and proud.  The battle was barely begun, but they stood ready.


	17. Throwdown

Hoping that Jayden had realized that something was wrong, Antonio threw himself at the kid.  At the same time, he flicked his wrist towards Katsu.  _Stupid idiot,_ he growled as he moved, _how did you miss it?_

Katsu bellowed, his voice changing into Octoroo’s warble mid shout, followed by a sharp crack.

As Antonio’s hands began to settle on the kid, there was another crack and Antonio forced himself over into the table instead.  He rolled off the table inches ahead of a broadsword.  Antonio flipped to his feet and threw his hands out, shoving a high-powered stream of water at the Nighlok who had once been a child.

“Who are you supposed to be anyways?”  Antonio asked as he reached for his morpher.

“I am Xandred, your Lord and Master,” the Nighlok growled.

Antonio flipped his morpher open, “Sorry, that ain’t my kink.”  He hit the button, “Samurai Morpher, Gold Power.”  As the power rushed him, Antonio took a moment to acknowledge that allowing Nina to set him up on Tumblr had been a bad idea.

As the light faded, Antonio noted that his team was moving, attacking the Nighloks who had been impersonating humans, so he pulled his blade and went for Xandred.  He had to give Mikayla time to take her shot.

Antonio stilled his mind as he began his defense.  His blade didn’t move at Ninja speed, but it was close.

It also took only a few exchanges for Antonio to confirm that Xandred was far better than he was.  It was all Antonio could do to stay on the defense.  All he could hope was that Mikayla could get her shot in fast.

Something exploded, making Antonio’s body sway and putting his moves off.  Xandred’s sword slammed into his shoulder, causing an energy discharge that threw him into the bookshelves and shorted out his morph.

“Tony!”  Mikayla shrieked.

Antonio shook his head and tried to pick himself up, only to groan as his shoulder protested and refused to move.

“Before I kill you,’ Xandred said.  “I will know how you figured it out.”

“I’ll tell you if I can choose the manner of my death.”  Tony grounded out, aware that all fighting in the room had stopped.

“Tony,” Emily whimpered in the silence.

Antonio forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain that ripped through him.

“Hush,” Xandred snapped, pointing his sword at Emily.  He looked at Antonio, “I will grant you your request.”

Antonio spat, noting the blood that struck the ground and lifted his chin pointed.  “I have family, they rescued me and I chose them.  They changed their lives to take in a moody pre-teen on top of two kids and a third on the way.”

“Is there a point to this?”  Xandred demanded.

Tony glanced at Mikayla; she had her morpher in her hand and nodded when their eyes met.

“I’ve been around four year olds, Xandred.  You should have eaten the goddamn cookies.”  Antonio dropped and pressed his face to the floor.

“Symbol Power,” Mikayla howled.

Silver light filled the room, causing the Nighloks to shriek in pain for an infinite second.

“Tony,” Jayden said in the silence.

“I’m okay,” Antonio said.  “Mikayla?”

“F-fine,” Mikayla said shakily.  “I need to-“

Antonio had every intention of teasing Mikayla for fainting when she woke up.

“Where’s Ji?”  Mike asked.

“Out,” Antonio said.  “I- I warned them.”  He began to push himself up.

“Stay down,” Jayden said, touching the back of Antonio’s hand gently.  “We should get you to the infirmary.”

“I wanted them to be safe,” Antonio said.  “I projected-“

“It’s okay,” Jayden said.  “You just focus on healing up, okay?  Everyone’s in one piece, I promise.”

“What about Xandred?”  Mia asked.

“Banished,” Antonio said, he coughed, “not permanent, but kicked in the teeth.  High symbol spell, it’s why she passed out.”  He blinked, “I’ll explain… we’ll explain…  Jay?”

“It’s okay,” Jayden said, rubbing a single finger over Antonio’s hand.  “You’re going to be okay, Tony.  Go ahead and rest, we’ve got the watch fire for now.”

“Okay,” Antonio said softly.

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

The waves pounded against the rocky cliff, a roar of thunder that filled him and calmed him.

Antonio sat on a rock with a perfect view of the water.  He was dressed in a loose pair of pants and t-shirt in a metallic gold.  His shoes were somewhere behind him on the ground.  He sat with one knee drawn to his chest and the other tucked half under him as he stared at the water.

He didn’t hear anything, but he knew he wasn’t alone.

“Do you think I could fly?”

“I think I won’t ever predict what you can and cannot do, Antonio Garcia.”

Antonio turned to look at the man who approached.  He was dressed in a similar style, although his clothes were a brilliant red.  Antonio had already known the man had Mikayla’s eyes, but when he smiled, Antonio realized that it was Jayden’s smile.

“Lord Shiba.”

“Please, call me Daniel,” Lord Shiba said as he hopped on the rock.

“Call me Tony,” Antonio said, scooting over to give him space.

“I suppose I should thank you,” Daniel said after a moment.  “What you’ve done for Mika and Jay has been immeasurable.”

“I just did what was right,” Antonio said.  “They’re mine.”

There was silence for a long moment as they watched the waves crash against the cliff.

“You didn’t come here to meet me,” Daniel said.

“Not… exactly,” Antonio replied.  “I was trying to do some direct dreaming because of what just happened.”

“What happened?”  Daniel asked.

“Xandred disguised himself as a four year old and walked into Shiba House,” Antonio said, “and I fell for it because I was looking for the wrong empathic emotions.”

“How so?”  Daniel asked.

“The last time I ran into a Halfling, I picked up an aura.  The guy had very distinct opinions about Humans, Earth in general, and Rangers in particular.  There were others that I suspected, they were similar, but none of the people who walked in today, they didn’t read as anything other than what they appeared to be.”  Antonio said.  “Now the team’s down two people for at least a couple of days.”

“That’s not your fault,” Daniel said.

“I tested them,” Antonio said, “I did!  If the kid had eaten the stupid cookies, we’d never had known until they killed us!”

“Doesn’t Mikayla have the ability to sense these things?”  Daniel said.

“Well, yeah, but she needs more time than I do, it’s harder for her when she’s already tired,” Antonio said.  “I should have known.”

“Maybe,” Daniel said, “but you can’t change the past.  And you’ve got a better track record than my people.  Our one run in with Xandred and we lost two people in one go.  I barely got the sealing symbol drawn too.”

“Right,” Antonio said.  “I don’t think Mikayla can do it.”

“What do you mean?”  Daniel asked.

“If we lock Xandred behind the last Gate, what will happen?  He’ll keep trying to get out, right?  He’s done it before.  We can’t seal the cracks, the places where his voice can slip through.  If we did, he’d just get some new body to ride.”

“That’s an interesting view of the situation.”

“Too many infomercials.”

“So what do you suggest?”  Daniel asked.

Antonio sighed, “I _don’t know._   The sealing symbol, it’s not something that can be mastered in a day, so it’s not like…”  He sat up straight.  “It’s not in the morphers.  It’s the _tech.”_

“I’m sorry?”  Daniel asked.

“I have to remember,” Antonio said, “the answer, it’s tech, not morphers.  Morphers won’t work for this, but _tech.”_

He stood, “I hope I remember this.”

Daniel smiled at him, “I’m sure you will.  What will you do?”

“Call the best tech person on Earth,” Antonio replied, “and hope he’ll help us.”

“You know what to do,” Daniel said.

Antonio backed up, took a deep breath, and then ran forward, throwing himself into a swan dive.  He never remembered hitting the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have already named Papa Shiba. If I did, feel free to correct me.


	18. Recovery

Mikayla slept for two days, Antonio slept for four.  There were no attacks.

Jayden felt like a ghost of himself as contractors worked to repair the damage in the dining room.  They’d all seemed to have come out of it unscathed but for those two, but the attack had changed them.  Kevin had doubled up on his training, running drill after drill in the practice room or in the courtyard.  Mike joined him without prompting, training with an intensity that he’d never demonstrated before that Jayden had seen.  Mia had taken to carrying her katana slung over her shoulder, and she traded off with Emily in sitting guard over Mikayla and Antonio in the infirmary.  Emily was either sitting watch over Mikayla and Antonio or locked in her room.  Jayden thought she was crying, but he pretended not to see when her eyes were red.

None of the house staff had been hurt, thanks to Antonio projecting an urgent need to get out of there as soon as he became suspicious, but that didn’t mean that Jayden couldn’t feel their fear.  Xandred had broken into the house before of course, but never like this, never _invited in._

Mikayla woke up at exactly 2:47 pm with a scream that brought them all running.

“It’s not enough,” she said when they were there.  “It won’t be enough, he’ll come back.  I saw, he’ll come back.”

“No,” Kevin said.  “We’ve sealed the house.  Ranger access only.”

“No, the _sealing symbol,”_ Mikayla said.  “It won’t be enough.”

Mikayla wouldn’t say anything else about it, but Jayden could only feel a growing sense of dread.

He’d studied the symbol, had drawn it a few times, but he couldn’t _do it._   Not the way Mikayla had been taught, not to draw it perfectly over and over until it had to work.  His job was to protect Mikayla, to lay the path for her to get her shot in.  If she couldn’t cast the symbol he didn’t know what they could do.

Two days later, Antonio woke up and demanded a phone.

Jayden watched as Antonio used is morpher to call up a number, which he then dialed.  He rubbed his forehead as he waited.  Antonio glanced up when Jayden shifted, “Sorry,” he said.  Then tucked his chin, “Hello, is Justin Stewart available?”

Whatever Antonio heard made him frown, “I’ll wait, but I need to speak with him.”  A few minutes later he coughed, “Yes, is Justin Stewart available?”  He sighed, “I’ll wait.”  He glanced up and smiled at Jayden, “At least they have interesting hold music.”

“Yeah?”  Jayden asked.

“Soothing and classical,” Antonio said, “it won’t stick in my brain afterwards.  Hello?  Hi, yes, I’m looking-“  Antonio hesitated.  “No, I just-“  Jayden could _hear_ the woman’s voice.  “I don’t know what that’s all about,” Antonio snapped.  “I need help and Justin Stewart is one of my best chances to get that help.”

He listened, frowning, then sighed.  “Look, just give him a message?  Tell him Antonio Garcia called, we need tech help in Panorama City.  He has my number already.  It’s an emergency.”

He listened for a long moment, then hung up.

“Everything okay?”  Jayden asked.

“I don’t know if that’s going to work, but I had to try,” Antonio said.  “How long have I been out?”

“Four days,” Jayden said.  He rested his hand on Antonio’s knee, “You really scared me, Tony.”

“Sorry,” Antonio said, rubbing his shoulder.  “I wanted to think through what happened.  I still didn’t get how I didn’t feel it.”

“Ji thinks they used magic,” Jayden said.

“That might actually make sense,” Antonio said.

“I’m glad you were paying attention,” Jayden said, “If you weren’t, I don’t think we’d have noticed before it was too late.”

Antonio sighed and reached over to squeeze Jayden’s shoulder, “You would have noticed.  You might not have even let them in the door without me.”

“I should have checked them.”

They both jumped as Mikayla walked in, “They can’t hide from me testing them.  It just seemed rude to do it though.”

“Next time, be rude,” Antonio said dryly.

“I will,” Mikayla said as she sat down.  She glanced at Jayden, “Tony, the sealing symbol.”

“It won’t be enough,” Antonio said.  “Seeing the energy you put out just to banish him.”

“It would kill me,” Mikayla said softly, “and it wouldn’t be enough.  I had a dream.”

“Fuck,” Antonio said.  He looked at the two of them, “Ask a stupid question, but is the reason you know the symbol is because you’re fire?”

“No,” Mikayla said.  “The symbol itself is elemental neutral; we power it with fire, which is measurably stronger than the others.”

Antonio nodded, “Well, we have fire, light backed by fire, light backed by water, water, two earths, and air.  We have to be able to work with that.”

“What are you thinking?”  Jayden asked.

“I’m thinking we need to tweak the symbol,” Mikayla said.  “It’s what Tony said, I’m not just fire.”

 _“I’m_ thinking we should look into having everyone learn the symbol,” Antonio said.

“That- we don’t have time,” Jayden said.

“They only need to draw it perfectly once,” Antonio said.  “I think.  I need him to call me back.”

“Tony, speak English,” Mikayla said.

“I think there’s a way to build devices that work like our morphers,” Antonio said, he glanced at Jayden, “they’re like guns.  We create the symbol and store it in the phone, like a bullet, and release it when we need to.  Like a bullet, it just needs a punch of energy to get out there, only that energy comes from inside us.  It’s just like drawing the symbol and using it against a Nighlok, or to summon your horse, except that the symbol’s already made, just waiting for energy.  I preloaded the symbols I use the most, because I’m not good at drawing them fast.  Every couple of days, I just reload them.”

“I picked powerful symbols that need time and precision to do,” Mikayla said, “like that banisher.  All I needed was a moment of breathing space and the energy.”

“In theory, we can do the same with the seal,” Antonio said, “It’s just another symbol, right?  Also in theory, we could build a device that works only to store symbols, something each of us could pre-load with the seal.  My calculations suggest it could be done.”

“What calculations?”  Jayden asked, “You’ve been _unconscious.”_

“I’ve been in the Grid,” Antonio said.  “Your father has an interesting sense of humor.”

“Tony, that’s dangerous,” Mikayla said.

“It was necessary,” Antonio said.  He scooted forward, “I’m sorry I worried you, but the math, I needed to know.  If I’m right, if we all hit him at the same time, we’ll not only kick him in the teeth, but we’ll ensure that it would be exceptionally difficult to get him back.”

“That much power,” Jayden murmured.

“It’ll get stronger over time,” Mikayla said, “if we all do it and it works, it’ll get stronger.”

“How?”  Jayden asked.

“Kevin,” Antonio said, “stop lurking.  This is your area of expertise.”

They turned to watch a sheepish Kevin slip into the room, followed by the others.  “How did you know?”  Mike asked as he pushed the infirmary door closed.

“I’m psychic,” Antonio said, deadpan.

“How is this my area?”  Kevin asked.

“Water symbols,” Antonio said, “pure water symbols.  I know you know some shield breakers.  I know you study theory as a hobby.  How do they _work?”_

Kevin raised his eyebrows, “A water based shield breaker?  It breaks down the shield in question in two ways, by finding cracks in the defenses and seeping in, or by hammering like any other symbol.”

“Thank you,” Antonio said.  “Imagine a seal with that technique, to slip into every crack, every weakness.  It would slip through every defense Xandred tried.  Now imagine a symbol backed by Earth.  Emily, want to field this?”

“Earth’s good for defense,” Emily said promptly, “it _holds._ ”

“And Air,” Mia said, “For fire, it feeds it strength.  It works like water, in that it’s good for finding weaknesses and exploiting them.”

“And the Light,” Antonio said, “to weaken them, to make it difficult for them to even get close to the seal to break it.  Maybe even to weaken them to the point where leaving their realm, the Sanzu River, will be nothing more than a dream.”

“We still have to tweak the symbols,” Jayden said, looking overwhelmed.

“That’s not hard,” Mikayla and Antonio said in unison, then grinned at each other.  Mikayla stood, “I’ll get started on that part.  I think Ji has a book that will be useful.”

“I’m going to…” the phone rang, “answer the phone,” Antonio said.  “Antonio.”  His face brightened, “Hi Dad, what’s up?”

“We’ll leave you alone,” Jayden said.  “Unless you need something?”

“Food,” Antonio said, grinning at him, then he looked down, “What, no, I was talking to Jayden.  Now, Justin asked you to what?  Why?”

Jayden stepped out into the hallway.

 _“That’s bullshit!”_   Antonio shouted.  Jayden stuck his head back in the door, but Antonio only waved him off, looking pissed off as he listened.  As Jayden headed for kitchen, he could hear Antonio say, “Well, tell Jason that he needs to get his head out of his ass because I desperately want to put my _foot_ there.”

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

As Antonio listened to his dad explain how Justin was being treated, he desperately wanted to murder someone, _Jason,_ and he knew there wasn’t a Ranger in history that would convict him.  “That’s his _brother,”_ he said, repeated really, “how can you expect him to just abandon him.  Haven’t you done enough to him already?”

“Tony,” Adam said.

“Well adjusted and happen seventeen year olds _don’t commit suicide,”_ Antonio snarled.  He could practically feel his dad flinch.  “If he feels it’s more political to pass messages through you, that’s fine.  The Samurai need tech, we need to be able to store specific power matrix to be used later.  We power it from our natural energies and the base program is already being used by my morpher and Mikayla’s.  I need to know if it can be built, and fast.  And by fast, I mean that we may need authorization for teleportation fast.”

“I’ll pass on the message,” Adam said, “but Tony.”

“No,” Antonio said.  “This, what you are doing to Justin, it’s bullshit.  Maybe you aren’t calling him, but you aren’t stopping Jason either, are you?  Have you even tried or are you opting for the path of least resistance?  I don’t need Zhane to beg me for forgiveness.  Compared to some other reactions to grief I’ve experienced, getting yelled at isn’t even in the top ten.”

Adam was silent, and Antonio realized he was thinking of Antonio’s dad.  Antonio snorted, “It doesn’t even make the top five.  That being said, I’ d rather not debate this.  I know my stance on the matter, maybe you should think about yours.”  He paused for a moment.  “I love you, dad.”  Then he hung up.

“Everything okay?”  Emily asked as she slipped in with a tray.

Antonio shook his head, “Just another round of the family feud.  Our guy will call me back with an answer.”

“Okay,” Emily said with a tentative smile, “I brought you lunch.”

“Thank you,” Antonio said.

“Mia cooked, but it’s actually good.  Those cooking lessons helped her a lot.”  Emily said as she set the tray down.  “Did you need anything else?”

Antonio picked up his spoon and poked what appeared to be a vegetable beef stew.  He glanced up and smiled at Emily, “If Ji would let me borrow his copy of the fifth Shiba’s biography, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll go ask,” Emily said and all but ran out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Convoluted tie in, but in my story "The Only Thing That Stays The Same" Chap 16, Justin references that he was on the outs with Jason and other Rangers because of his close ties to Zhane (in this 'verse, they're half-brothers, it's confusing.) Since the incident that sparked that status is Zhane and Tony's interactions in "The Eltare Adventure", it made sense that it would carry over into Fall of the House of Xandred. Why is Tony calling Justin? I'll explain in the next chapter.


	19. Preparation

Antonio was three chapters into the bio when the phone rang.

“Hello?”  Antonio asked.

“Hi honey,” Tanya said.

“Mom?”  Antonio asked, “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” Tanya said, “whatever you said to Adam, he’s gone off to think about it, so I said I’d play messenger.”

“I’m sorry,” Antonio said, “I just, I got angry.”

“It’s all right honey, I’m not mad,” Tanya said.  “Now, Justin said to tell you that he thinks your theory is right.  He’s not familiar with your power structure enough to tell you how, but he does have some advice he thinks will help.”

“Okay,” Antonio said.

“Justin said that in old teams, like the Samurai, the Power naturally falls into certain channels.  While new channels can be introduced, like new morpher colors and their paraphernalia, try to keep close to existing tech.  The Power will respond better, and with more strength than if you shoehorn a new type of channel.  Play to the strengths of your power structure, you’ve got a history of almost a hundred rangers, all using the same power structure.  You’ve augmented it with your gold and silver morphers, but you’ll get better results sticking to tradition than breaking it.”

Antonio sighed, “I understand.  I need to think on this.”

“Tony, what’s going on?”  Tanya asked.

“Our deus ex machina isn’t strong enough, so we have to come up with a Hail Mary,” Antonio said.

“I know you can do it,” Tanya said.

“Of course,” Antonio replied, projecting cheer and confidence for all he was worth.

“Tony,” Tanya said, “I love you, and may the power protect you.”

“I love you to, Mom,” Antonio said.

He set the phone down on the tray and sighed.  Then he pushed the tray back and slid out of bed.  Someone had put him in a pair of loose pants with bright gold strips on them, so he paused only long enough to pull a t-shirt on before heading out to find the others.

They were in the courtyard out back, with big sheets of paper and books surrounding them.

Kevin saw him first, “Should you be up, Antonio?”

“I’m fine,” Antonio said as he settled onto one of the benches.  “I heard from Justin, and it’s raised a few questions.”

“What questions?”  Jayden asked.

“Justin said that if we stuck to traditional ways to channel the power as opposed to creating something completely new, it would work better.  Mikayla and I could get away with our morphers, but I think this is too big to ask for the same luck.  So, I need a traditional way to channel the power by Samurai Rangers.”  Antonio said.

“You probably know more about that than us,” Jayden said.  “You fixed the Claw Zord, you finished the black box.”

“Kevin’s done it too,” Antonio pointed out, “he pulled together the battle wing.”

“That wasn’t anything,” Kevin said, “we had the disks.”  He stopped, blinking.

“What?”  Antonio asked.

“The disks, the power disks.  After the katana and the Zords, we had the power disks.  They were originally wooden, but they switched to the style we have today,” Kevin said.  “They’re made by a one of the Shiba vassals, an old family secret.  We have blanks here at Shiba House, Ji keeps them, in case we need them for something, like the swordfish or the tiger.”

“Do you know how to program them?”  Antonio said.

“Of course,” Kevin said, sounding affronted.  “It’s something we study.”

“Can we put these on a disk?”  Mikayla asked.

“Your elements are already linked to a power disk,” Antonio pointed out, “even I’ve had a few power disks come my way.  We can figure this out.  Kevin, will you help me?  You know the disks, I know how to pre-load symbols.”

“But how would we use them?”  Emily asked.

“Fire smasher,” Jayden said.  “We do it all the time anyways, except this time we’ll use disks loaded with the sealing symbols.  Mikayla, can you help me work this out?  Xandred’s fast and powerful, and he’s got centuries of experience, we need a plan of attack that will keep him from realizing what we’re doing.”

“On it,” Mikayla said.

“Mike, Emily, Mia, keep working on the adaptations,” Jayden continued.  “We’ll need them when Tony and Kevin have the kinks worked out.”

Antonio smiled a little, Jayden didn’t often take such decisive control of a situation, but there wasn’t anyone who would deny his control now.  Moments like this were the moments that Jayden transcended his insecurities and uncertainty to be the Red Ranger he was born to be.  Moments like these made Antonio want to haul Jayden off somewhere and scream to the world that this wonderful, commanding man was _his_ and no one would take him away.

“Come on,” Kevin said, cutting through Antonio’s distraction.

Antonio blinked and sighed, “Sure.”  He began to firm his shields, because he did _not_ want anyone to notice the emotions that came from Jayden being like that.  _Apparently, I may have lied to Xandred the other day,_ Antonio thought as he headed into the house after Kevin.  Then he put aside his thoughts and focused on the task at hand, namely, finding out the best way to meld two different technologies and powers into the key to destroying Xandred.


	20. The Fall of the House of Xandred

It took almost a month before Xandred led another attack.  Antonio and Kevin had put the time to good use, creating what turned out to be one-time use power disks that contained the tweaked sealing symbols the team needed.  It had also allowed them to practice the attack patterns that Jayden and Mikayla had put together.

Now, they faced him on the far side of Shiba Mountain, where the forests had been allowed to grow as nature intended.  Xandred looked incredibly out of place surrounded by nature, but by bringing the battle here, they were sure to keep casualties to a minimum.

With Moogers and a pair of Nighloks serving as a distraction, Antonio wasn’t surprised to find himself facing off against Xandred again.  This time, Antonio had a better idea of what he was up against as he blocked the broadsword, and what he needed to do.

The problem with Xandred’s age and experience was his lack of knowledge of the _ninja_ arts.  Antonio hoped he could pull out a few tricks, long enough to keep him interested and to allow his team to deal with some of the others.

“Red,” Jayden shouted just when Antonio was beginning to slip.

Antonio threw himself away with all the speed of a Ninja, allowing Kevin to launch several arrows at Xandred to keep him in one place.

Emily and Mia followed Kevin’s attack, hitting Xandred quickly before getting out of his way.  They couldn’t stand and fight Xandred, he was too powerful for those tactics, but there was a _reason_ people quoted things, and _float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,_ was as valid a tactic as _step one: hit it; step two: hit it again, repeat steps one and two until target neutralized._

Mike followed Emily and Mia, covering their fall back, and leaving the way clear for Mikayla and Jayden to follow them in.  Antonio took that moment to confirm that the Nighloks had been put down, and the Moogers were out of sight.  Then he turned back to team up with Kevin for a concerted attack on Xandred using water symbol power and swords.

They were able to keep Xandred focused without giving him a chance for another of those devastating sword blows.  All of them were waiting for Jayden’s signal.

“Yellow!”  Jayden called.

The others switched to their signature weapons, keeping up the moving hits, herding Xandred towards the best shot for Jayden.  Emily was blown down, she hit rolling, but managed to stay morphed.  They wouldn’t be able to keep up their attacks for much longer.

“Green,” Jayden called finally, moments before Antonio took a hit for Mike and went down.

Mia grabbed Antonio’s arm and hauled him up and away from Xandred, “Let’s do this,” she said.

They produced their power disks and slammed them into place, all seven lining up on the chute on the Fire Smasher.

Antonio barely took his eyes off Xandred as he rested his hand on Mikayla’s shoulder.  He could feel her dual nature of fire and light burning brightly and he reached for her with his own light.  He could feel Kevin meshing with his water element and the moment when they clicked together like a current of energy.

There was a ripple of energy and then he could feel Jayden, and beyond Jayden, Mia’s air backed by Mike and Emily’s Earth.  Mike was the bridge for them, his grounding of plants allowing him to exist between Emily’s pure Earth and Mia’s pure Air.

Linked together, brimming with all the energy and Power they could gather, “Seven Disk Beetle Canon,” Jayden shouted, “strike!”

Xandred exploded in fire and light, laughing at how the Rangers’ “toy gun” would never bring him down.

///…\\\\\///…\\\\\///…\\\\\

They came back to Shiba House and found it full of people.  Antonio watched as Kevin embraced a tall man who was clearly his father.  Mike was hugging a woman who was laughing, crying, and yelling at him in Spanish.  Mia was holding a phone to her ear, crying as she spoke with the people on the other end.  Emily was kneeling beside a wheelchair holding a thin, blonde woman who was crying as she gripped Emily’s hand.  Jayden and Mikayla were shaking hands with a smiling blonde woman who was hovering near the chair.

These were their families.

Antonio had heard Ji talking with Emily’s mother late one night, planning to surprise the Rangers by bringing their families to Shiba House for the victory party.  Part of Antonio wanted to leap forward, shaking hands and talking to these people.  He wanted to see if Kevin’s dad would get that same frown when confronted with Antonio, if Serena was as nice as Emily, if Mike’s mother really knew his mother like he thought, but part of Antonio just felt lonely.  His family was not here.  This victory was for these five families, not for the interloper, the brash young man who had charged into Jayden’s heart as a little boy and had never had the courage to come back out.

Something struck his waist from behind.  Antonio turned and found a familiar face staring up at him with a big grin.  “Jinx?”  He said.

“Hi Tony,” Jinx said.

Antonio looked towards the gate.

Adam and Tanya were walking in, hand in hand, with Paul and Nina, and behind them was Tori and Blake.

“Did you think we’d keep them away?”

Antonio turned to find Ji standing beside him.  “This, it’s,” he hesitated.

“You are a Samurai, Antonio,” Ji said, “It’s your victory too.”

Antonio braced himself for the tackle hug Nina was clearly planning on and laughed, “Let’s get this party started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not only is this the end of The Fall of the House of Xandred, but it's the end of the Not Canon Samurai Series. We'll see more of Tony and his team in future stories as they not only take on adult roles in the world and interact with the other Rangers and beyond, but we'll also learn more about the next generation of Samurai. With Xandred finally gone, the House of Shiba has restored their honor and the future is a wild land full of hope and happiness for all of them


End file.
